Among Friends and Monsters
by CoffeyJoe
Summary: Remnant, home to both the races of men and monster. At the end of the war both sides had agreed to attempt to reconcile their pasts and start anew. This thinking gave way to Beacon Academy, a school where both man and monster could thrive. But, you know the old saying about plans and contact with the enemy. We find our faithful knight returning to his new life, for better or worse.
1. Chapter 1

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 **The World of Remnant (?-600 BGW): The Beginning of the World and the Tale of God-King Ajax**

Remnant. A beautifully contrasted world that's landscapes ranged from volcanic mountains and fields to glimmering sheets of pure, crystalline ice to endless swaths of shifting deserts. However, a long, long time ago, there was little more of this landscape than barren wastelands where deposits of titanic dust crystals sprouted up from the surface and nothing else stirred. The Dust, being a medium to which the chaotic forces that came to be known as "magic", interacted with itself and only itself for millions upon millions of years as the world took shape. Outside forces as well as the raw energy coursing along the surface of the planet created a world prime for the creation of living beings.

It was this world that became home to two peculiar races of creature: The Race of Men and The Race of Monster.

The Race of Men was born of the chaotic and coiling energy sources known as "Dust" due to its inherent potency of magic power. It is said, and oft believed, that the primordial mixing of dust in both its crystal and granular forms created the perfect catalyst for an event that theological scholars refer to as "The Great Light". From the swirling clouds of magical energy formed small, nearly hairless creatures known as "Mankind". These new creatures took to their surroundings, marveling at the cyclopean nature of the early landscape of Remnant what with its jagged rocks that almost seemed carved out. Slowly, but surely, mankind took to carving out their own lands, and, according to very ancient and poorly translated records, subsisting off the energies radiating from the crystals above and below the world.

This race of peculiar creatures created the very first prototypes to many of the things taken for granted today such as housing, clothing, governmental structure, and toolmaking. We are unsure of how long it was until the race of monster arrived, only that with it came the an event known as "The Division of Lines" which split the world into the continents of Mantle, Vale, Mistral, and Vacuo.

Regarding the creation of monsters, ancient texts and legends are foggy at best as to what happened with such a thing. Over the years, the most brilliant archaeological and historical minds have deduced the race of monster may have been born similarly to the race of men, meaning the catalyst of dust that created the latter brought life to the former. From that event that theological scholars have named, rather heavyhandedly, "The Great Dark". Personally, if you want my opinion, I believe the will of the very planet saw to the creation of the very antithesis of mankind. A darkness to the light so to speak.

 _"For light without darkness is blinding, yet darkness without light is an abyss."_ -King Arlumane Lobos VI, 19 BGW (Before Great War).

Where the race of men was roughly uniform in size, shape, personality, and structure, the race of monster were a varied mixture of creatures both small and large, both innocent and horrifying. I don't believe any could blame such primitive humans from being fearful of the race of monster, gargantuan and lovecraftian some of them were, further compounded by the seemingly embedded desire to destroy. The humans, caught unaware and without any knowledge of true warfare, were nearly wiped out by the dark creatures that infested the planet. True, some of those creatures did possess rational thought and sapience and looked remarkably similar to humans, but others seemed to have crawled out of the pits of hell itself.

Some humans, attempting to appease their dark tormentors took to revering them as gods. They worshiped them and provided their "gods" with whatever they required, even if it meant themselves. This early form of paganism laid the groundwork for future Grecian, Norse, and Roman cultures that would later be assimilated into the kingdoms.

It seemed hopeless, and that the world of Remnant would forever be infested by these creatures of the night. That was until a man known simply as Ajax in his time created something, a weapon to be precise. For you see, Ajax, wise and strong amongst his brethren, saw the adverse reactions some of the weaker monsters had against the dust outcroppings, most notably the monolothic red crystals that dotted the landscape. So, carving a long stone pole to allow him to hit without getting close and breaking off a jagged and sharp piece of the crystal, Ajax created the first weapon of humankind: The Spear of Destiny, Gáe Buide.

It is said that the first time this spear was used in battle was against a dragon known simply as "Hrothing" who had taken to tormenting Ajax's people. Ajax was said to have lifted the mighty spear over his head and stab directly into the beast, showing no mercy or hesitation. While the beast had expected to laugh at the weak human he instead felt the agony of burning fire course through his heart, the spear had struck home and lodged itself into the core of the great beast. Fire welled within the creature causing it to burn and die all the while cursing its slayer's name with mighty roars and wails.

As the creature fell dead Ajax's people cheered with such thunderous applause and victorious shouting that the sound echoed across the world and reached the human stragglers that ran from the dark creatures. The cheering inspired hope within the tired humans, causing them to applaud and shout back creating a cacophony of noise that sent even the mightiest of monsters running. Ajax, now known as God-King Ajax, stood proud before his people, towering visage lording over the fields of beasts that looked up at him in shocked awe. The king raised his mighty Gáe Buide and sent it spiraling down into the pits of those dark plains, creating a fiery scar that is said to be an area now known as the Boiling Gash in Mistral.

Ajax lead his people throughout the land and beyond the sea to the split kingdoms, spear in hand and cutting down any who would dare oppose him. In those years humans began to mimic the creation of the Gáe Buide by shaving off large chunks of dust and using them to craft crude weapons. Some of which, like the trident known as Sagaoileadh which was made up of 3 ice crystals, would be used to battle some of the darkest creatures mankind would face.

His empire was so massive that he had developed cities and governments on every major landmass that was all interconnected by a system of primitive boats simple written messages. Both these would become refined in time but the initial deprivation of mutual contact led to each continent slowly gaining their own local flavor so to speak.

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 **King Menelaus (600-300 BGW): A Ceasefire in the Wake of Life**

So the world, formerly a desolate place and now teeming with creatures bent on the destruction of one another, continued spinning, alone with only the moon to watch its inhabitants struggle. Ajax would continue to grow older and older, before his death at the presumed age of 192 leaving his only heir and son, Menelaus, to lead the unified forces of men. And so he did, living up to the expectations of his life and fighting the beasts for every inch of land and every scrap of resources. The fighting brought about desolation and destruction, but from that came something after...

Life.

The craggy mountains, dusty plains, and grey waters began to grow colored and full with life neither side had ever seen. Sheep, cows, fish, and other creatures came about around the planet. Life had finally taken root in Remnant, and with it came a ceasefire by both sides so that they may simply marvel at what had happened. Yes, it seemed that everyday the scouts would be bring stories more spectacular than the last, oceans of emerald waters, beautiful forests of red trees, lush greenlands that spread for as far as the eye could see.

King Menelaus, never having before seen this, devoted the rest of his long life studying the world that had bloomed amidst the fighting. And for awhile, fighting had ceased on both sides as even the most barbaric creatures took note of the furred creatures that they could barely even pick up lest they crush the tiny things. Humans found that they could consume the beasts that wandered the lands, making note of which ones were the best and how they should go about doing so. It was with this consumption that humans grew stronger and stronger, some of the most prominent unnamed heroes of that age boasting strength that could rip a Werewolf Alpha to shreds if need be.

The first scientific studies of the properties of dust had begun in that time, the smartest of the humans wishing to know what made the stuff so useful and powerful in combating creatures such as the ones they had battled. Through rigorous study and the forgotten trial tests in those early decades, the first bloomings of magecraft had begun to take shape in the world. Intellectuals learning how to harness the dormant energy hidden in every shard and every grain of dust, they experimented endlessly at their king's behest. The wild, raw energy in the dust proved difficult to control or even coax out into the visible world but moments of sudden clarity and accidental breakthroughs proved that there was indeed power lying in the dust.

Fionn Argus, a respected scholar in his time, achieved the title that would cement him in the legends of the Mage's Association of today: Archmage. Fionn had discovered how to properly wield dust to a primitive extent, drawing it out with comparative ease and molding it into something that could be used. While not at all palpable compared to today's standards, Fionn was known as the man who pioneered incantations.

" _Speaking aloud the words,"_ he wrote in his journals that had been preserved in his tomb. " _that come to the mind in the process of refining and manipulating the potent energies within dust allows the mind a sort of concentration. A way to fixate themselves upon what they are doing, by vocalizing what a magus wishes to do the mind can more easily envision this and transmit that into the dust they are trying to control."_

While it is still unknown what gives humans the ability to manipulate dust so finely, it is suspected that it has something to do with how the creation of man was believed to have started. That we, the first creatures created on Remnant by dust and the first to wield it, have a connection to the stuff that goes right down into our souls. It is further unknown as to why the races of fae, such as leprechauns, can also manipulate dust to perform magic. This subject of study has been continuing since Fionn first posed the question into one of his journals:

" _why is that we, a race comparably weak to the monster we face, would be given the power to use raw energy? I suspect something more than mere chance."_

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 **King Carsopes (300-100 BGW): An Intellectual of Fatal Mistakes**

As time waned and Menelaus died as his father did, living a life full of wonder and change, a new, more ambitious man came upon the throne: King Carsopes. Carsopes boasted a prowess of intellect never heard of before in the race of men, and, seeing how his people had grown so strong compared to what they were before, began to refine mankind's ability to produce weaponry and defenses. Crude spears that barely held up compared to the Gáe Buide became honed pieces of equipment as stronger material that reflected light when polished made their way around the cities of man. King Carsopes refined this material and turned it into the most crucial part to any weapon, with it he created tools that cut clean through monsters.

Carsopes was known for advocating the usage of science and deductive reasoning, unheard of in his time, to discover new ways to enhance humanity's abilities. During Carsopes's reign there was an influx of new inventions and breakthroughs in the realms of science and math such as the invention of the wheel, early agriculture, early domestication, basic physics, dustmancy, and geometry. The ceasefire created by King Menelaus was an opportunity that could not be left to waste, so King Carsopes went about enhancing every aspect of human life. It was during this time that storytelling, historical writing, and even customization of property and items began to make itself known, the beginning roots of human culture. The encouragement of culture was especially important to sociologists and archaeologists given the carefully preserved state of some of the artifacts that had been found in tombs. It could even be inferred that Carsopes had thought so far ahead that he had taken measures to ensure that some of the most important texts and artifacts of his time would be sure to be passed down into the future.

Suddenly, and without warning, Carsopes rallied his most able-bodied warriors that had lived through countless battles, some of the most experienced having fought alongside Ajax in their own time, and lead a great charge against the creatures of night. Ironically, the events following mirrored the events prior to when monsters first came upon the world in that the dark creatures were almost entirely pushed back into the crevices of the world. Settlements popped up alongside the landscape as the world continued to refine itself into what we know of today.

The oldest of monster, namely the dragons, vampires, races of merfolk, werewolves, and what would be later called faeries, retreated to their hideaways, away from the sharpened weapons of men. Unfortunately, and, again ironically, King Carsopes did not think it wise to wipe out the race that had eaten his own people once, content to let them hide away in the forgotten places of mankind he left there. This proved fatal, as with older age comes a wisdom that cannot be gained anywhere else, what I mean is that the oldest of the clans that had gone into hiding grew older and older and wiser as they watched the fires of humankind burn in the night. The most ancient of these creatures became the defacto leaders of their individual species, plotting to themselves and their kin on what they will do when the time comes.

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 **King Arlumane Lobos (100-1 BGW): The War Gong Sounds, a Great Death Follows**

There they stayed, biding their time and probing for weaknesses in the kingdoms of men. Carsopes, in this time, would fall ill and die leaving behind his most trusted general, Arlumane Lobos VI, as the rightful successor to the throne. Lobos was no mere general by the rumors that floated around, in fact, it was spoken that his shield was something of legend rivaling even the Gáe Buide, which had been locked away for the rulers of mankind to use only. The Aegis of Arlumane it had been named, and it was a shield without equal even to this day. Made of seven hides (in order: Werewolf, Leviathan, Gorgon, Calydonian boar, Gormr, Giant, and finally Dragon) that proved to be impenetrable by any claw, tooth, stringer, or blade.

As Lobos took the throne, the combined forces of monster saw fit to attack the humans who had grown complacent and weak compared to their former tenacity. The wisest among the monsters had formed a council at the time, the Council of Tartarus which had been named after their largest fortress compound and what would later become their capital city in modern times, made up of the 5 most prominent races that saw fit to retreat and bide their time. En mass, the forces of darkness laid bloody siege to the towns and cities of men.

Luckily, both Lobos and Carsopes had been afraid of something like this happening and had made it their duty to keep their warriors able-bodied. That, however, did not stop the initial thousands of causalities that resulted from the ensuing chaos. Rallying his troops as his predecessors once did, Lobos took his aegis and began to push back against the forces of evil sparking the beginning of what was known as the First Great War.

The war was said to be bloody and carnal beyond anything that has ever existed. The firs true war between humans and monsters, a war said to end all wars one way or another. King Arlumane battled bravely alongside his fellow knights and warriors, his Aegis responsible for blocking the blows of even one of the council members, a vampire known as Caligula. The battle continued for 19 long years before the fighting had taken the energy out of everyone who inhabited the planet, the monster could not find anymore blood lust and mankind was too fatigued to raise their weapons even in a show of defiance. And, just as in the reign of King Menelaus, a ceasefire to the fighting was called, leaving both sides to collect the thousands of bodies and attempt at rebuilding the lives and cities they destroyed.

Over time, if a little slowly, the cultures of men and even some of monster began to spread themselves across the world. The once plentiful above-ground deposits of dust having been mined or destroyed had virtually disappeared, leading to advanced mining in an attempt to gather more of the precious resource. Weapons made of pure dust had begun to be overtaken by such things as metal weaponry in the interest of saving dust for when it was needed instead of using it blindly. New defensive and engineering designs allowed for more security to be placed in the most important parts of the human kingdoms. Rigid and defined lines were created along newly printed maps pointing where so and so was and where not to go if you liked to be kept in one piece.

And though begrudgingly, the ancient and prominent territories of mankind and monster were carved out in the blood of both sides. These lines would serve as the very symbol of diplomacy between the two, if such and such was happening on this side it was mankind's problem and vice versa. This system was kept rooted in the halls and kingdoms of humanity for centuries all the way to the modern era. The legends of brave heroes and ancient kings, of powerful weapons and advanced magic all happened within the lines set by one King Arlumane Lobos VI, ruler of the 5 kingdoms and descendant of the original God-King.

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 **The Modern Era (1800-Present AGW): The Second War**

Skipping centuries ahead, we find ourselves as the cusp of an outbreak between the races of men and monster once more. Centuries of pressure applied upon the borders of both sides created unwanted results. Fatal skirmishes cropped up across the land with the worst being the Battle of Fort Castle which saw the end of over 500 human soldiers created a diplomatic conflict the likes of which hadn't been seen since the Revolution Crisis of 1892 AGW (After Great War).

The tensions between both sides would boil over any day known, some people pretended it wasn't happening or that it would pass like other incidents such as this. However, due to the interference and subsequent death of one of the council's children, a war just as bloody as the first world war cast Remnant into the pits of carnage once more. This time, the forces of both factions had been bolstered by the creation of new species of monster, the development of ballistic weapons, and the advanced understand and application of dust magic (dustmancy) that proved influential in the war.

Thousands of humans and monster alike clashed across the globe. The crafty humans using guile and intellect as well as a natural ability of dust usage to cause crippling losses to the enemy side, meanwhile the sheer size, ferocity, and abilities of the monster created nightmares that no one would forget as long as they lived. Local shamans in the desert of Vacuo swear they can hear the wayward souls of fallen soldiers still scouring the desert, waiting to be found. I do not put much stock into these legends myself, but I can't help but bitterly laugh at the cruelty of that fate.

The war raged on and on for years as more bodies were thrown into the grinder. I watched as men fought savagely with their tools of steel and their weapons of dust to inflict searing wounds and icy gouges upon this world even as they were eaten alive by creatures I shan't describe here for my own sanity. Perhaps, in the first time in human history, the press proved to be a saving grace to the men and women who fought.

Pictures came back to the homefront on both sides of what was happening. Mothers, father, siblings, and lovers watched the horrid destruction and couldn't help but wonder if their loved one was among the bodies on the battlefield. So savage and marring were the photographs and videos that both the Council of Tartarus and the elected United Council of Kingdoms (U.C.K for short) were forced to find some agreement with eachother before a full-scaled riot appeared. It was then decided that Beacon Academy initiative was first announced worldwide.

A product of the tribulations, cultures, and ideas of both sides that would be used to bridge the gap between both humans and monsters. A massive academy designed to re-integrate the former combatants with eachother in a neutral environment hosted by both sides. It was idealistic at best and foolish at worst, and yet there was little else to do with thousands of trained soldiers who had nowhere to go now. I proposed the planning and employment of the staff and groundwork of the school, I worked endlessly to find a way to make this work.

As a man who knew war to the utmost, I could not abandon so many children to a life of stress and depression. Prominent figures around the globe pitched in ideas, people, supplies, and money until we had a working prototype to show the councils. Contingencies were hammered out day and night over and over again until we had run each idea through the ringer a hundred times. I interviewed and hired the staff myself, making them take active tests and putting them in simulated situations that were designed to weed out the hesitant or non-fitting.

The people I have now have earned my utmost respect and deserve their every position. Every professor is trained in a variety of psychological and sociological skills in case of an emergency as well as having been trained in first aid. Like any academy, we offer classes where students can go for free to earn their degree in skills they had wished to hone when they were younger. From Dustmancy to Practical Physics the academy boats a wide range of classes for our up and coming students to choose from.

I am... unsure of how this will go, but I must give it a try.

For my students if not for me.

- _Headmaster Ozpin Ozark_

 _February 27th, 2017_

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 **First chapter and what do you guys think? Is it good is it bad? Criticisms? Beta Reader applications? Know that this is the prologue to our story and it will truly begin next chapter. I'll hopefully had something done by the end of the weekend so please bare with me. Thanks for voting if you did and I suppose I'll see you next time!**

 **P.S Yes, there are a lot of OC ancient characters such as the kings and mages but there are also things from myth so please don't tear me apart for it. There will be references to ancient heroes and kings that you won't get at first so don't worry. There will be plenty of stuff taken from mythology as well so don't be surprised at that.**

 **It'd also be super cool if someone could make some cover art for this story if they want to, they'd get a shoutout every chapter.**

 **Please and Thank you.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	2. Chapter 2

The bullhead jostled uncomfortably causing a wave of nausea to rip through the me I leaned against the cold wall, trying to find a friend in its unwavering balance. Here I was, Jaune Arc a 17 year old veteran of the second Great War, about to become on of the thousands meant to rekindle their academic passions at Beacon Academy. I had served for only seven measly months before I was ambushed in the desert along with my platoon, the result was me getting several scars, a purple heart, and an official discharge home until the war ended just two months later.

 _Ok Jaune, just remember: strangers are just friends you haven't met yet I_ mentally hyped to myself, however my bravado crumbled under the feeling of almost vomiting as the bullhead groaned and shook through the air. I felt a few passerbys scoot away from me slightly just in case I did yak all over the floor, maybe talking to someone would alleviate the need to barf. Or atleast I hoped it did.

I steeled my resolve once more before taking a confident step into the main lobby of the large airship, it was decorated pretty well considering on the outside it looked pretty uninviting with its gunmetal colors. However I didn't quite take that part in too much as I noticed a very glaring issue that seemed almost poetically ironic given why we were all on this ship: the humans and monsters sat starkly across from another, having drawn invisible lines on each side of the room. To the left I could see some of my fellow humans whispering, listening to music, reading, or even throwing glares to the other side of the room.

To the right I could see much of the same only with a different ambiance so to speak, meaning I could hear more growling and rather unnatural noise coming from the group of monsters. Looking between the two I need what must be done, in order to make an omelette you must sacrifice an egg or two so, trying not to piss myself and run, I walked rather woodenly over to the "monster side" and took a free seat next to a young man in a green shirt long-sleeve shirt. He didn't regard me or initiate conversation as he read his book, but I did feel the combined glares and looks of a hundred something monsters who I had my back turned to.

" _So ugh-_ ahem," I coughed, trying to cover the voice crack. "So ugh, pretty good weather we're having ay man?"

Greenbean flipped a page in his book. "Yes, I enjoy the sunshine."

There we go, that's the spirit! I supposed that the fact he didn't ignore me or even threaten to eviscerate me must be a good sign. This was it! Jaune Arc, mediocre mage and self-proclaimed charming knight, was going to bridge the gap between-

A hand made of ice clamped down on his shoulder.

 _Oh shit._

I craned my head back slowly to get a good look at my admirer and saw a young, very pale man with blue hair with his hand firmly on my shoulder. He smiled, a tight-lipped motion that sorta reminded me of a restrained snarl, which showed of a pair of sharpened canines if only slightly. A vampire then, and a pureblood if the soft features were anything to go by.

Maybe- Just maybe, this guy was socially awkward like me and wanted to be friends. Couldn't hurt to give him a chance right?

"O-Oh hey! I'm Jaune."

"Sky. Sky Lark, human," Oh, that's not a good sign. "I saw you sitting there and couldn't help but wonder if you were a hunter?"

"I-I was."

"Really!" he said putting on what was probably fake awe. "Then you must have killed tons of monsters during the war huh!"

The way he said it made his voice carry, which, in turn, brought the attention of many, many monsters around me.

 _...Oh...Shit..._

I'm not gonna lie, I shot a desperate glance at my fellows humans who had also taken an interest in our exchange. For a moment I thought that I would be alone in this fight until I saw the biggest ginger guy I've ever seen rise up from near the middle. Before anything could happen, however, a strong hand clamped down on Sky's arm with enough force to create a tight sounding squeeze.

"Leave him alone, he hasn't done anything." greenbean said calmly from beside me, his pink eyes gazed sharply at the vampire even as one of my hands inched towards my knife.

Sky looked like he was between snarling at the guy next to me and giving up, he chose the latter and let go opting to sit back and glare at the back of my head icily. Greenbean's eyes roamed the crowd around us as if daring them to start some more shit and in time everyone began to look away. I sat rigidly, spine straight as I tried not breathe, noticing my expression greenbean sighed.

"Look, I apologize for his actions. I promise you that we are not all like that." he said, flipping another page in his book.

"Ugh, yeah don't worry about. Thanks for the save but I gotta, ugh, go over there!" I finished quickly, standing up and returning to the comfort of the human side. Some of the people over there looked at me with respect, some with annoyance, and others looked at me almost asking "do you have a death wish?".

I took another free seat and soon enough the big ginger from before came over along with his companion, a young man whose sandy hair covered his eyes and half of his neutral expression.

"I'll tell you what man you've got some major balls to try and do a stunt like that." The big guy gave me a firm pat on the back and casting a glare of at the other side of the room. "Bastards think they can just get away with whatever huh?"

I chuckled nervously for a moment before straightening myself. "Yeah man, my name's Jaune Arc, and your's?"

"Cardin Winchester, and the guy behind me is Dove Bronzewing." The latter nodded politely in my direction to which I just nodded back. "So I assume you were a hunter like us then?"

My nervousness melted away at the mention of that, with all the commotion I kinda forgot we were all hunters at one point. "Yeah man, I served as a sensory dustmage for my unit."

Cardin whistled, apparently impressed. "That so? I was never so good with all that dust shit, no instead Dove and I found our work making shit blow up."

A demolitions man huh? Well far be it from me to fault him for that, knowing how clumsy I am I'd probably just end up setting some explosives off and getting sent home in a matchbox. Truth be told I wasn't even a super good mage, sure it was my required craft and I definitely knew my stuff but I couldn't do some of the stuff that _real_ mages could do.

I remember seeing a senior dustmage create a thunderstorm miles wide over an enemy fortress using only yellow, blue, and white dust crystals. Even now I find it so crazy what some people can do with dust, me, on the other hand, could pull out some spells, and I've definitely went toe-to-toe with more than a few share of monsters, but it was paltry compared to people like Glynda Goodwitch who was hailed as a mage of worldwide renown.

Before we could talk more the pilot's voice crackled over the intercom. " _We are beginning our descent now folks, while we are landing please listen to the words of Deputy Headmistress Goodwitch._ "

Sure enough, as he finished, a dust-powered hologram of the blonde Goodwitch herself came to the life between the two factions of students.

 _"Students, I am Glynda Goodwitch, an adept dustmage and the current Deputy Headmistress at Beacon Academy, and I would like to welcome you all to the first steps to returning home. Before I continue I must talk about some rules: 1. There is to be absolutely no fighting on campus, any skirmishes between students will be handled with extreme prejudice, 2. All dustmages are to file the appropriate paperwork for alchemical ingredients and dust supplies as well as a spell log for everday usage, failure to submit said paperwork will result in disciplinary action, and 3. All hungers, desires, needs, and the like will be catered to while on Beacon property, the staff and I are trained in such things not to mention the various concecssions in place for you."_

That cleared things up a bit atleast, I'll admit I was a little anxious at the thought of having to share a room with a vampire if I wasn't sure how they were getting blood. Looks like Beacon had thought of everything though I probably shouldn't have been surprised, a lot of monsters went through periods like that -Amazons, Vampires, Werewolves, and, ugh, Redcaps.

 _"Please do keep in mind that you have all been offered an extraordinary chance to renkindle your passions as you return home, I and the staff here hope you do not waste it. I look forward to meeting you all soon."_

And with that the hologram faded out and was replaced by whispered conversations among the new students. Cardin seemed contemplative for a moment before looking to Dove who just shrugged and looked at me.

"Hey Jauney-boy, you're a mage right? What was she talking about with all that paperwork crap?" Cardin asked, popping an eyebrow at me. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the question, to me it might be obvious but he didn't have any magical training.

"What she was referring to was that dustmages need to organize and list the items they currently have on them and submit a request form for what they might be. This makes it so no yahoo can just traffic in dust and ingredients that could be illegal and/or dangerous." I took on a lecture-like tone as my friends listened to me. "When it comes to spells us mages know a few spells that require very little dust, so we use them for practical application to make our lives easier or we use full-on spells to the same effect."

"So I assume they don't want you guys pulling magic tricks out of your ass whenever you feel like it?" Dove said, and honestly I was quite surprised but I nodded.

"Yeah, that's the gist of it."

"Wait hold on, I thought all spells needed dust?" Cardin questioned, scratching his head.

"Well... They do, it's just that some, like the ones I was referring to, require so little dust that we mages undergo a ritual to have trace amounts of dust woven into our bodies." I saw Cardin cringe so I quickly added. "It's nothing serious don't worry. It's more like we have small batteries inside us that power spells like low-level telekinesis. Levitating books and making small items come to me requires more concentration rather than gravity dust."

Cardin still had a sour look on his face as he shook his head. "Yeah man I don't know, sounds creepy to have some of that crap crammed into you."

I laughed a little at that from just the mental imagery of someone shoving dust crystals into a patient during like an open-heart surgery. Suddenly the bullhead lurched, along with my stomach contents, as we made our way onto the runway. Needless to say I was the first one out of that infernal contraption and when my feet hit solid ground I swear I seriously considered kissing it.

Once I had shaken myself out of my nausea I took in the surrounding academy grounds, and let me tell you it was _lavish_. the government spared absolutely no expense when making it. The concrete buildings were built and high and seemed to be brand new, the courtyard was ripe with fresh flowers, and even the brick path was in pristine condition.

Cardin and Dove sidled up next to me as we followed the procession of students down the white brick path towards the main lecture hall where we were supposed to go for initiation. We got into some mild banter as we need the equally impressive building until we were rocked by what appeared to be an explosion coming from a courtyard to the left of us. I looked to Cardin and we exchanged a quick nod, I'd go check it out and if I needed backup I'd call for it.

I followed what sounded like irate shouting until I came upon where I assumed the explosion had happened, judging by the scorch marks, and I found two young women, one of which was white haired and seemed to be the source of the shouting while the other looked rather young with black hair that ended in red tails.

"-A complete an utter dunce! What if I had spilled the rest of these ingredients then where would we be?" whitey shouted to the little kid, she felt rather familiar and I soon came to the conclusion of just why. She was a Schnee, as in the proud aristocratic mage family who's known around the world for providing spells and dust to millions.

Their reputation among other hunters is disputable, with some respecting the quality of their dust and spells while others scorn them for their actions during the war. You see, the Schnees decided siding with either faction was bad for business so they settled on a neutral standpoint and supplied ingredients, spells, and recipes to both sides. To be fair, if my friend got killed by a Schnee-brand spell or recipe I'd be pretty pissed at them too.

As I brought myself back down to Remnant I saw the Schnee's rant come to a close with the little girl cowering before her. Snapping myself out of it I approached both of them carefully.

"Hey, everything alright here?" I asked, raising a hand in a greeting.

"Humph, this _dunce_ almost blew up my entire supply of red dust by knocking it over-"

"I didn't mean to _princess!_ " Red muttered but then quickly fell silent as the Schnee looked at her.

"It matters not, you nearly cost me my life you little demon so you best be on your guard, and it's Weiss to you." She said before sniffing in my direction and sauntering off, her servants bringing about her trolley of ingredients with her.

"You ok kid?" I asked, offering a hand to the girl who gladly took it.

"Yeah I'll be fine, geez who put a bee in her undies?" she huffed at Weiss's retreating frame. "Anyways I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose. I'm an Akuma demon from Patch."

I froze. My blood froze. My thoughts froze. Akuma were worshiped as honest-to-god demons back in the day, and while I can personally say I never fought one I knew that if things got ugly here there was only so much I could do.

- _Akuma demons are monsters known for their red hair and chaotic attitudes. Their strength and ferocity is rumored to go beyond that of a even one of the vampire lords making them a fierce foe. Luckily rather rare, the best way to kill them is using magical blades which had been blessed with ancient sanctity rites._ -

I suppose I could trap her if I needed to, but if she went berserk that's it, I'd be a pavement stain. Best to just get out of here as quick as possible.

"So, ugh, yeah, nice meeting you." I rushed out, turning around to leave before she caught the sleeve of my jacket.

"W-Wait, I-It's kinda embarassing but I'm not sure how to get to the lecture hall. Can you show me the way atleast?" she asked innocently. To which I would say no. Hell to the no because this sounds exactly like a trap.

"Ugh, sure kid follow me." ok willpower, you and I need to have a talk later.

"Sure thing...?"

"Jaune."

"Jaune what?"

"You can just call me Jaune for now." in my, admittedly limited, experience I found it wise to never give your full name out to monsters. "Follow me but don't mess with my friends."

"Hmmph, ok Mister Grumpypants." she mumbled under her breath, pouting and crossing her arms rather cutely. Honestly if she wasn't a demonic monster she'd remind me more of my little sister Rowena than anything.

When I returned to Cardin and Dove it was to raised eyebrows and questioning looks, I waved them off in a silent show of "I'll tell you later" as we made our collective way to the lecture hall. When we arrived most of the students had settled in together and Cardin, Dove, and I found ourselves some seats. Suddenly, out of nowhere, some big blonde bombshell comes sashaying out of nowhere and in between Ruby and I.

"Hey little sis what's good?" she asked, throwing an arm around Ruby.

"Ugh, "what's good" is the fact you left me behind!" she complained, shrugging the arm off.

"Aw chill baby sister, you made some new friends right...?" she finally took notice of me, and it didn't take long for her to surmise who, and what, I was. "Anyway sis come check out these cool guys I met..."

A little while later the chatter was cut clean through by some mic feedback. There he stood, Ozpin himself, headmaster of Beacon, on the stage, he cleared his throat and began his speech.

"I'll keep this brief. You have been chosen to attend this academy for one reason: you all fought and bled for you values and people in the Great War. There is nothing to be ashamed of in that, but know now that the war is over and we must set forward in creating a future in which our children will be proud to live in, no matter who or what they are. I know many of you harbor ill wishes and memories, some of you may even have personal vendettas. And while the staff here understand returning to the homefront is never easy, you must take it upon yourself to accept this amazing opportunity put forward to you."

He sipped the coffee mug in his hand for a moment./pp"With that in mind, while attending Beacon you will be put into a dorm consisting of you and three others. You will live together in this dorm and will be expected to behave as mature adults. If there is any problem at any time, or if you don't feel safe, please, do not hesitate to bring it up with either me or one of the staff here. Your dorm assignments will be posted over in the ballroom."

I kinda just shrugged to Cardin and Dove as we made our way over to the ballroom for our dorm assignments. Wading through the crowd of pushing and shoving monsters and humans I found my name buried within a few pages.

Room 441:

Jaune Arc

Pyrrha Nikos

Lie Ren

Nora Valkyrie

Soon after I returned to my two compatriots as we swapped our rooms assignments.

"I got 3 people I know nothing about, hope they're cool." I half-muttered to myself. Cardin clapped a big hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Hey don't sweat it man, you got Dove and I to watch out for you." his smile turned into a scoff as he looked over at a familiar blue-haired figure. "Dove and I got shoved into a room with that pompous asshole over there. I swear to god if he even breaths on my I'm going to suffocate him with garlic."

"You do know garlic and vampires is just a myth right?"

"I know, that's why we're going for suffocation." all three of us laughed at the joke before waving goodbye to eachother. I breathed deeply and got to work looking for my room number. I check high and low, through every nook and cranny until, three hours later, I finally found the floor my dorm was supposed to be on.

 **...**

"439... 440... Ah! 441 here it is." I opened it with my key and found my dorm mates sitting there setting their things up. I was surprised to see that green-guy -probably Lie Ren- from the ship along with a hyperactive ginger girl in a skirt and vest who was bouncing on the , muscle but completely human in appearance. The last name as well as the presence I'm getting... so maybe she is a Valkyrie.

- _Valkries are war spirits that served the Norse Pantheon in ancient days. They chose to stay out of the war but are known for their personality and impressive strength, the best way to kill them is with a spruce branch covered in human blood to the heart._ -

"Oh hey! You must be the last guy! I'm Nora Valkyrie, your roommate and new bestie!" the ginger girl squealed, jumping up from the bed and striking a pose. Ren just sighed and closed his book before turning to me.

"And I am Lie Ren, a Cerastes from Mistral." he said plainly, eyes devoid of any real emotion.

- _Cerastes are horned snakes that were primarily used as desert recon and messengers during the war._ -

"Ah yes, I am Pyrrha Nikos, an amazoness." the stunning redheaded beauty replied, putting a hand over her heart and smiling. Geez, and here I thought I'd die of old age before seeing an amazoness with how reclusive they are.

- _Amazons are a race of warrior women who are native to an island off the coast of Mistral. They've remained isolated for centuries due to not being entirely accepted by either humans or monsters and so have decided to keep themselves away from the world. Recently, under command of a new leader, they've begun to reconnect with the world and help in its rebuilding._ -

Well they were certainly some odd folk. Kind, but odd. Atleast I didn't feel like they were going to shiv me in my sleep or something, so I got a leg up on Cardin and Dove there. I had a feeling this would be an interesting time indeed.

The door was suddenly flung open, the wood cracking against the wall as a familiar blond blocked the doorway, a familiar redhead hanging onto her waist.

"It is I! Yang Xiao-Long, kickass dragoness and the bringer of awesomeness!"

Certainly interesting so far.

0-0-0-0

 **There is your chapter ladies and gents. Wanted to clear some things up for future chapters by the way:**

 **Jaune is not racist, or atleast not how you think. Mind you he was nearly murdered by literal monsters and had been training to fight them, he won't immediately be at ease with them as a whole. In fact, one of the biggest weaknesses of the Beacon Initiative is the underlying hatred between the two races.**

 **The magic is going to be similar to that of Rin Tohsaka's from Fate/UBW. If you are unfamiliar then I suggest you go look it up and watch it, my meaning here is that beside some novice spells most spells will be used via encantations and dust crystals to wide effect.**

 **Thank you for listening to me bitch.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	3. Chapter 3

The room had become deathly quiet once "Yang" had bust through the door like an axe-murderer. I just kinda blinked owlishly at her for a moment, mind running off on multiple tangents at once. Until it hit me, something she said when she came through the door...

"...A... Dragoness?" I said dumbly, still blinking.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I am Yang Xiao-Long of the esteemed Xiao-Long dragon clan!" she said merrily, punching a fist into her chest.

- _Xiao-Long Dragons were among some of the most influential players on the monster side during the war. Like all dragons they could breathe fire and their scales were nearly impenetrable to human weapons, so magic was primarily used to bring the beast's down. What makes the Xiao-Longs stand out is that their scales take on a bright, reflective golden hue that makes them extremely valuable.-_

A Xiao-Long dragon... In my room... And in human form... What the higher ups would have given for an opportunity like this _._ I stowed away that thought under the "Wartime" folder and decided to introduce himself.

"Jaune Arc, human." I said curtly, deciding not to throw out that I may or may not be responsible for some of the deaths of her kin.

"Lie Ren, cerastes." Ren said casually.

Nora bounced excitedly while looking at Yang. "Ooh! Ooh! I'm Nora Valkyrie, and I'm a Valkyrie. Can you transform! I heard dragon scales were awesome!"

Pyrrha giggled slightly before introducing herself. "Pyrrha Nikos, amazoness."

It seemed like Yang took a second to take in that information, Ruby already having slid off her some time ago and watching her embarrassed. Her face twisted slightly, as if she had just eaten something sour before she finally spoke.

"Jaune, right? You're a human then?"

"Yeah." was all I responded with, what did she expect really?

"Hunter?"

"...Yeah..." was this a challenge? I sure as hell hoped not, but atleast I'd have back up. And yet the thought of said backup didn't quite comfort in the face of fighting a dragon.

"Ok you two, we're not here to fight." Pyrrha said softly, but even I could hear the strained worry in her voice. Yang's head swiveled between the two before she coughed into her fist.

"No it's just- I guess, thanks for looking out for Ruby. She's my adopted sister y'know?" Ruby shrunk into herself and I nodded, already having experience in matters of family what with having 7 sisters and a dad that acted like a child.

He could hear Pyrrha breath a sigh of relief as Yang finally walked across the threshold and was followed by three others, Ruby, Weiss, and a currently unknown person.

"Hi, my name is Ruby Rose and I'm an Akuma demon! Of course, my adopted sister is Yang!" Ruby chirped happily, dressed in her usual Beacon attire.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee family and an adept mage." Weiss said cordially, bowing slightly.

The one in mostly black eyed me quite sharply before introducing herself. "Blake Belladonna, cat spirit."

Well, that was certainly an interesting cast of characters. None of which I could see himself fraternizing with, especially when said characters could easily eat my dead body should the mood strike them. I supposed it was a moot point, the teachers here would never let that happen so there was no use in worrying about it.

"Well guys it's been nice meeting you, but we still gotta unpack so..." I trailed off, casting a glance at the door. Weiss seemed to get the hint and exited without another word, Blake sort of huffed at him then left, while Ruby and Yang said their goodbyes before leaving.

"Well, they were certainly interesting weren't they." Pyrrha asked to the room.

"Was it just me, or did the cat-girl not like me?" I asked, looking to the only other male in the room.

"No, I felt it too. She did not like you that's for sure." Ren said quietly, seemingly unperturbed by the sudden intrusion.

"Well regardless, Jaune is right we need to unpack. Here's to a good school year!" Pyrrha said happily, raising a fist in the air. The others agreed in kind and made the move to start unpacking.

0-0-0-0

The morning had not been kind to anyone, least of all me, Jaune Arc. Beacon Academy was supposed to be a fresh start, a joint venture by both human and monster kind to help bridge the gap between both species after the war. The plan had been to create a population of still young people and have them mix to weed out prejudices and social problems stemming from the war. After that, the hope was those young people would go on to have kids and have them uphold the values they would learn at the academy. There were similar schools on every continent but Beacon, being the first, was world-renowned for its variety of staff and academics.

Getting up for class was nothing too dreadful, military discipline, instilled in both human and monster, made sure we could handle the early-morning rising without too much groaning. I dressed himself in the rather classy Beacon uniform and waved goodbye to my bunkmates, I wanted to build some connections with the other humans while I could (yes, I knows that's the opposite of what I should be doing), and that meant putting my handsome face out there for my fellow humans.

As I got out of the dorm rooms I almost immediately recognized that something was wrong. I could see some assorted monsters and humans walking quickly away from some kind of epicenter where more of both parties gathered round. Oh boy, I wonder what this could be, but if I were a betting man I'd wager it was nothing good, despite that curiosity bit at me so I sort've waded through the crowd to get a better look.

At the center of the shifting crowd there was 3 people. One human and two monsters on account of the bared fangs and red eyes respectively, the human stood across from the two and was in a frantic anger.

"I knew we couldn't trust your kind!" the man shouted, hand continually clutching his neck.

"Bullshit! I didn't do anything!" the one with fangs bared shouted back, hands clenching and unclenching.

Deciding to play the magic mediator, and against my better judgement, I pushed myself into the center and stood between the two.

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked, looking between the two with my best "dad stare" as my comrades called it. Something I somehow inherited from my father, of course, and, apparently, quite good and cowing someone.

"T-this _thing_ went for my neck just now!" The human shouted, pointing a finger at the one who still bared his fangs.

The man, a vampire perhaps, hissed. "Fuck off, I only bumped into you human."

"Then why did I feel your fangs scrape my neck!"

"You're imagining things!" the other monster shouted.

"Enough!" I snapped, I rubbed my temples and sighed. "Did anyone call a teacher?"

"I think someone ran off to get one." came a voice from the crowd.

I breathed deeply and pointed at the guy who was still clutching his neck in exasperation. "Your name, what is it?"

"N-Nolan." the man stammered, looking down at the ground.

"And you two?"

"Bolin."

"Nadir. We're Dhampirs." the man said. He was certainly exotic enough to be one, what with the pink hair and tan skin.

- _Dhampirs are the offspring of humans and vampires. While uncommon there is a small portion of these "half-breeds" as some of both factions have taken to calling them across Remnant. While unusually resistant to silver they are more susceptible to their hunger, making them undesirable for both sides. They can be killed like normal vampires._ -

"See! Dhampirs! No wonder he tried to take a chunk outta-"

"Enough, Mr. Porfirio." came a clipped voice that parted the sea of students. Dr. Oobleck (as he had seen on the staff roster) strode in between them and judged the scene silently.

"Alright you three, you're going down to the office to handle this personally with Miss Goodwitch." the three students grumbled but shuffled off towards the building, each one keeping a distance from the other. "And you, Mr. Arc I presume, I suppose you stalled for me to get here."

"I suppose- look, don't go too hard on Nolan he's probably still jumpy from the war." I tried to reason, looking out for a fellow brother-in-arms.

"And both Mr. Hori and Mr. Shiko must deal with a hunger out of their control." Oobleck replied casually, despite that I could tell he had riposted my reasoning and struck me.

"O-Of course, Doctor." I said, a hot wash of shame coming inexplicably over me.

"Relax young man, I didn't come here to scold _you_." he said, putting emphasis on the last word. Oobleck ran a hand through his green hair, the exotic color betraying his true identity, a leprechaun.

- _Leprechauns are widely known as fairy spirits in folklore. In the war, they, and their kin of the same family, meaning other faeries, acted as mages to the monster factions due to their predisposition to the arcane arts. Many a grudge has been formed between the magicians of man and monster due to the leprechaun's liking for practical jokes that usually end up with someone being injured horribly. Iron works best on them, like all faeries.-_

"R-Right, sorry sir." I said, and then quickly extricated myself from the situation entirely. There were too many eyes on me, and, knowing about half of them belonged to creatures of the night, I did not wish to be the center of attention for much longer.

Speeding quickly out of the courtyard and into the main grounds of the school, I checked my schedule and was relieved to find that I had a free period this morning. Trying to do any work on my frayed nerves at the moment would most likely end with me blowing my own fingers off with a bad spell. In the main grounds I found himself likening it to the airship ride, one side was predominantly human while the other was predominantly monster, with both sides throwing heated glares at the other.

Luckily, before I could be singled out again, I caught the eye of my brother-in-arms Cardin and his right hand man Dove. Cardin saw him and motioned for me to come over, I could see that he had his own group of friends that he had made.

"-Boys, I'd like to introduce you to our resident mage: Jaune Arc." Cardin said, gesturing towards the man himself. The other three men gathered around me welcomed me kindly and I'm not ashamed to say that I couldn't stop myself from breathing a sigh of relief.

"Thank fuck Cardin, poor guy got his ass busted by Oobleck back there." I said, recounting my tale to the group.

"Damn, that's a shame. Although you did the right thing, don't wanna fuck with no leprechaun." One of them, Mercury if I remembered right, shook his head. "Damn shame about Nolan though, he's my roommate."

"Eh, sure it's just war nerves. He'll be off the hook in a bit." Cardin said evenly, he then turned his attention to something behind I. "Can't say the same for us it seems."

I turned to see what my friend was looking at and soon found found it. Three people, one girl and two men, all dressed in thick clothing and bright red beanie hats. They were currently situated directly across from Cardin and his group and were giving them death glares. I could see one grumble something to the others who nodded in agreement.

"Fuckin' Redcaps." one of the guys muttered beneath his breath. I was inclined to agree, given what the little buggers were capable of.

- _Redcaps are extremely violent fairy spirits. A cousin to the leprechaun, Redcaps must constantly soak their hats in the blood of humans to keep themselves alive. During the war, Redcaps were used as a means of ensuing chaos on the battlefield and as high-profile guards to the castles of the monster faction leaders. Their extreme strength and dangerous tenacity makes them a common target for humans, like all Fairies they can be killed using iron.-_

I felt my breath quicken all too suddenly. Everyone has bad memories they take home from war, and Redcaps happened to mine. I could still remember the terror of seeing one of those things rip through my partner like he was made of wet tissue paper. Some of the other humans may have had a bone to pick with vampires or werewolves, but for me it was always those fucking Redcaps. Insane little bastards they were-

"Jaune!" Mercury said, gripping my arm suddenly. I snapped to attention and looked at him like a deer in the headlights.

"W-What!? What is it?" I sputtered lamely.

"Hey man you were spacing out there for a moment, you alright?" Mercury asked, patting my shoulder.

"Yeah, just thinking." I half-lied, I was more or less thinking on if I had any iron on me.

"You should stop thinking, trust me." Cardin grunted so I decided to drop it, as long as the psychotic little shits stayed away from me I'd be ok. Gods, I'd hate to have to share a room of my own with one of them let alone three.

"Fuck man, where do you think they get the blood for them hats?" Dove whispered to the group, I fought down a shiver at the thought of Beacon or the government nabbing people off the street to be killed or taking away a body from a family to be drained of blood for _Redcaps_ of all creatures.

Of course I knew they wouldn't do that necessarily, but the imagery was not exactly comforting.

"Fuck man, I don't know. And I sure as hell ain't finding out." Mercury said, glaring back at the murderous faeries.

"Jaune, you ever kill a Redcap?" Cardin asked, turning towards him.

I grimaced, but nodded. "Yeah, I fought one once. Worse fight of my life too, damn thing was stronger than an ox and ripped the guy in front of me in half."

"Fuck man, sorry you had to see that."

"Don't be, I lit that fucking elf on fire."

Cardin chuckled and fist bumped me, in my heart I knew that I shouldn't be bringing back memories from the war, but, for right now, it was just a means of catharsis. The group shuffled away as the bell sounded, each going off into their own separate ways. My first class was "Magical Intuition and the Subject of Study" with Professor Goodwitch.

I still couldn't believe, me, a competent but still young mage, was going to be learning of _the_ Glynda Goodwitch! Scholars back home would have only dreamt of getting such an honor in a hundred lifetimes! Goodwitch was widely recognized as the greatest witch in modern history, her ease of use in spellcraft and her calculated grasp on even the fringe sciences of magic were phenomenal!

I smiled happily and was so lost in in my own thoughts that I didn't notice the man I was about to walk into. Bumping harshly against him with an "oof" I could hear some papers fall as I cleared my head. Some poor schmuck was on his knees with a pile of notebooks strewn across the floor in front of him.

"Oh damn, hey man I'm sorry that was an accident." I said looking to help the guy up. "Here let me help you-"

I was suddenly pushed back roughly, taking a few steps back from the force. The guy on the floor got up, glowering at him with unbridled anger, I could faintly see what looked to be pincers pushing their way out the back of his mouth.

"Look man, I said I was sorry it was an accident!"

"An accident? Yeah, sure. When push comes to shove it was just an "accident" then, huh?" The man, a Myrmecoleon apparently, hissed, eyes turning slitted like a cat's.

- _A Myrmecoleon is an ant-lion hybrid that is adept at digging tunnels. During the war they dug underground pathways and guarded bases situated in caves or rocky terrain. Though intimidating, they can be killed normally with fire being the best use.-_

"Look man, I'm not looking for trouble. But if you wanna go I'll go." I gestured around the hall that was beginning to pay attention to us. "Look at these people, they'll see that you started this."

"Like I give a shit, shoulda never trusted you humans." he spat angrily.

The man closed in on me and I felt his body react with it. I breathed deeply, remembering all the training sessions and practice my coach used to tell me.

 _Breath deeply, feel the power ebbing through your body. Now harness it, push it into you hand and fingers. Do you got it? Ok, once it's there you need to feel that energy expelling out of your hands as hard and fast as possible..._

Faint black lines etched their way onto the skin of my wrists and hands, forming angles that connected to eachother. As I focused harder they began to glow, softly at first until they became a beautiful violet color, my eyes mirroring them. I pushed the palms of my hands towards him like I was trying to shove him and the telekinetic blast that emanated forth from my hands sent the monster back into the wall. The creature hit it with a dull thud, and struggled to get up, either too dazed or too hurt to do so properly.

"You good man?" Jaune asked tentatively.

"Goddamn human, I'll get you you sonuvabitch." he grumbled, getting up awkwardly. The man made to charge me once more but was stopped when he heard the sharp voice of someone ring through the halls.

"That's enough, Mr. Fiemma." Professor Goodwitch said, heels clicking through the halls as a redheaded student followed her close behind. "I was watching the entire thing as I cam over here. You are at fault, Mr. Fiemma."

"B-But this human- he pushed me!"

"No he did not, it was an honest mistake." Goodwitch said evenly adjusting her glasses. "Please report down to the principal's office, I will let him know you're coming."

I sighed relieved, but quickly sucked it back in when Goodwitch regarded me. The lady knew how to freeze a Gorgon into solid stone if you asked me. "And you, Mr. Arc, you are an adept mage with a vast potential to learn. I would have hoped you'd be mature enough to not use such a spell in such a crowded area. See to it that it does not happen again."

"Y-Yes ma'am."

As Goodwitch left I felt a hand come down on my shoulder. Looking over I found the same redheaded student from before regarding me warmly, his beacon uniform slightly loosened all around.

"You good? I saw what was happening and figured you needed the help."

"Thanks for the save man, didn't want to kill that guy anyway." I chuckled.

A ghost of a smile passed the redheaded man's lips. "Yeah, I feel ya. Disgusting little creatures aren't they?"

"Yeah, my name's Jaune. Your's?"

"My name's Adam, Adam Taurus."

0-0-0-0

Adam Taurus was a tall man that's for sure. He was taller than me and I was no short stack let me tell you, the guy was also built like an assassin from those Black Ops units I only heard about. We walked down the hallways after our respective classes while we got to know eachother, it became painfully obvious that Adam was rather... dissatisfied with how the war ended.

"Still think we should have kept going man, damn monster running around all over the place now doing god knows what." I just chuckled along with him as we talked about what we were doing. Adam was going into politics and I could probably imagine what kind of platform he would be running off of.

"So man, me and my friends were getting together this Saturday for our own little club. We got permission from Ozpin himself to use one of the old shacks as a sort of human support club, we call it "The Inner Sanctum" for now." he said, laughing slightly at the name as did I. "Anyways we basically use it so us _humans_ can hang out together in peace and feel safe without having to worry about a bunch of monsters."

Well that sounded... kinda cool actually. Adam sounded like he had a good head on his shoulders, so I supposed it wouldn't have hurt to atleast give his little organization a go would it? The worse that could happen is I don't like it and leave, it's not like it was mandatory.

"Mind if I bring some friends along?" I asked, Adam smiled and bumped my shoulder with his fist.

"The more the merrier bro, we'd love to have them." I smiled and laughed at that.

"Well I'll be sure to pass the message along to everyone then, huh?" Adam's grin stretched the length of his face.

"That would be just perfect..."

0-0-0-0

 **There you go, the next chapter will be all new for you guys. First I'll update "An Arc's Mad World" and hopefully get a draft for a new chapter of "Needle in a Haystack".**

 **Furthermore I'd like to explain a little of Adam's perceived OOCness. I just want to point out that the best leaders are charismatic, getting those around them to do their bidding not by force but by persuading them that they want to. By twisting words and whipping people up into a frenzy so it helps them. And, in a way, I assumed this is was canon Adam did before he became militant following the Black trailer.**

 **Blake did mention that things weren't always so radical until new management stepped in. Afterwards, I wouldn't be surprised if Adam's charismatic personality changed to be a little more bloodthirsty before devolving into a full-on radical revolutionist.**

 **Furthermore Jaune's attitude towards monsters is pretty normal all things considered. Despite going home relatively early Jaune did fight in a war, so it wouldn't be surprising if he had some bad memories to go along with it. Then of course he has to sleep, eat, and study with rooms full of the people that would have killed him without a second thought months beforehand.**

 **Thank you.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	4. Chapter 4

As I sat in the middle of class, I became aware of just how slow of a time it would be before Saturday rolled around. I could admit that I can be a bit of a wet blanket at times, and being chastised for defending myself in the hall didn't put in the best mood for listening to Professor Goodwitch. Anything she said I criticized spitefully in my head.

"Now I know all of you have a firm grasp of dustmancy basics, so I wont subject you to such rudimentary concepts. Instead, I'd like for you all to practice an intermediate spell I feel is essential to being a mage." the blonde witch lectured, pacing across the floor. "For today's class, we are going to use a simple transfiguration spell to put a glamour over your textbooks."

I blinked in surprise, glamours weren't usually used by anyone other than the spec ops unit for infiltration. Not that it wasn't a useful spell, in fact for everyday life it could be pretty damn handy if you needed to trick someone. It's just that in all my time as a sensory mage, before being transferred to the Investigations unit, I had never really learned any transfiguration magic. Primarily because if you got it wrong on a living target your glamour might end up fused to their skin.

I shook my head of those thoughts, we were practicing on our books not people I reminded myself. As the professor outlined the dosages of wind and darkness dust I felt myself get antsy. Another unfortunate habit of mine, I never could be completely relaxed when doing a new task until I had completed it myself successfully. I glanced around the lecture hall, Weiss the only one standing out to me due to the air of detached arrogance common to high born people in her position of birth.

By the time the explanation was over, I had been handed a suitable amount of powdered dust and opened my supplementary spellbook to recite the incantation. I measured out the correct ratios of darkness to wind, pinched enough of it between my thumb and index finger, and began to recite the incantation. Part of dustmancy, and arguably one of the most important aspects, was not the chant by nature but instead how you willed the dust to react to your desires. Sure I could glamour this book to simply look like another book by reading the incantation, but I could also glamour it to instead resembled a slab of concrete if I so willed it. I drew up a mental picture, a rather simple book cover that I could remember with perfect accuracy before I began to speak.

" _Per voluntatem accipere figura, et velit ea implere, quod ego vellem decernere. Verum est forma tuum ultra!_ " I commanded to the best of my knowledge. Some spells used broken latin, others a far more ancient and arcane language, but the formulas were relatively the same. Really, the "incantation" was more of a focuser, getting it into your head what you wanted and whatnot as well as grounding yourself to whatever spell you were performing.

The mixture of dust between my fingers reacted, oily black smoke billowing out from my hand before consuming it entirely. From the center of the textbook, a small whisp of inky blackness bloomed, soon covering the rest of the worn book like black fire. Once it had consumed the entirety of the outside, it faded just as quickly, leaving behind a transformed visage of an old adventure novel I loved as a kid. The words beyond the front cover remained unchanged, nor did the book have the finer details it would have had if I remembered the novel to the letter.

"Excellent Mr. Arc." Professor Goodwitch complimented, I jumped at her sudden appearance. "I deduce you are untrained in transfiguration? I believe your file claimed you were adept at sensory magic? The Investigations Unit?"

"Y-Yes ma'am, my talents primarily lie in tracking, analyzing, and locating." I stuttered for a moment, gazing up at the famous magician. And it was entirely true as well, when it came to the art of sensing and searching, I stood out from the rest of my squad and eventually my fellow Investigators. I could locate a monster a hundred miles away using only a tuft of fur and some wind dust.

"Excellent, I think you'll make a fine mage." she responded, walking off to go check the other students work. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding, learning from someone like Goodwitch was both terrifying and eye-opening.

Eventually the bell rang and we all shuffled out, eager to move on to our next classes. Along the way I noticed that the various species of monster and many humans had formed little pockets, groups full of people that stayed close by yet distant enough to warrant some space. Occasionally a runner would be sent from one group to another as the various people glared at one another in distrust.

A rather rotund and graying man stood watching over the courtyard, sternly frowning at the displays between the two species. Unfortunately in my evaluation I had come to realize that I was the only one walking the middle line, and there happened to be a lot of eyes on me at the moment. I hurried my pace, not about to become the bridge between monsters and humans. I nearly groaned when I looked up to see one of my roommates -Ren I think?- pacing forward at me with a clipped step. His head was buried in a small notebook but eventually the tension grew thick enough that he glanced upwards to see me.

Ren wasn't a fool from what I had seen, and he deduced the situation pretty fast. As we passed I had no doubt that someone in the crowd thought we'd just start swinging at eachother, while others thought we were gonna hug it out or something. Instead Ren gave me one of those gunslinger nods, the ones that say _"I see you"_ in that subtle macho kind of way? Anyways I returned it and strode past him without a thought, entering the red brick building in front of me and getting to my next class.

I let out a strangled breath when I was out of sight of the crowds, leaning against the wall and shutting my eyes. Gods, this was stressful and I couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before this whole place turned into a blood bath. I was shaken out of my musings my a hand tapping my shoulder, as I cracked one eye open I suppressed a snort of tired amusement when I saw Ruby, the Akuma, standing in front of me.

"You look tired." she chirped, hands behind her back.

"I _am_ tired." I corrected, leaning my head back against the wall. "Walking across the courtyard sucked all the energy I had out of me."

Ruby glanced outside and winced. "Ouch, that's frostier than Weiss."

I chuckled a little and nodded. "You seem cool with me, despite the fact I'm a hunter."

"You _were_ a hunter Jaune, like how I _was_ a soldier? Aren't we supposed to be getting along or something?" she asked, shooting a knowing look.

"That's the idea sure, but I doubt anyone had a very good idea on how to do that. Because, you know, it's not just humans and monster; it's like, humans, and vampires, and werewolves, and all that other shit who all have opinions about eachother. Like, how does putting a vampire, a werewolf, and two hunters in one room not long after a world war work?" I frowned, crossing my arms.

Ruby shrugged. "I dunno, I'm not in charge of that. But I get along pretty well with my roommates, the only one whose being a wet blanket is Blake and I'm pretty sure it's because she's a little bit of a racist."

"Hmm." I hummed unimpressed. "I don't know about my roommates, haven't really talked to them at all."

"Well you're not alone, from what I hear a bunch of monsters and humans are crashing with their respective species instead of their assigned rooms. The teachers probably aren't happy about that."

"But they had to have expected it. Anyways I gotta get to Oobleck's history class." I replied, shrugging my backpack back on and heading towards the class.

"Oh, I have him too! A bunch of my friends do! We can walk there together." Ruby cheered, pumping her little fists.

 _Don't forget Jaune, she could tear you in half with ease if she needed to_ a traitorous voice whispered in my head. I shoved it back where it belonged and sighed with a nod, like I said before, I did _not_ want to become the poster boy for monster-human relations. There were far more charismatic and charming people to do that, like Adam, except he was a human supremacist.

One agonizingly awkward walk to Oobleck's class later, and I had taken a seat next to Dove. I noticed he looked out of place without Cardin standing by him, like a ying without a yang. This class, compared to Goodwitch's, was chock full of monsters, making up about 80% of the room, and the disparity couldn't be more obvious with the way each side huddled away from eachother leaving a no man's land inbetween. Professor, or as he would rather be called Doctor, Oobleck walked in, sipping on a cup of coffee as he greeted us.

"Good morning students!" he waved at us, his attention more focused on the papers on his desk. "And how are we all this fine morning?"

It was then, looking up from his desk, that Oobleck noticed the divide between the students. He stared, stone faced, at the no man's land before heaving a great sigh and adjusting his glasses.

"Please, can we fill in that gap right there?" he commanded more than ask, waving his hand and picking out small clumps of students to do so.

Lucky for me, I happened to be one of the humans who had to take that prestigious task. I sidled up against Ruby, who had almost volunteered, and quickly found myself boxed in by other monsters. A stocky man breathing down my neck, I rubbed my temples and tried to dispel my headache while I shot a glare at Oobleck that could wither metal.

Oobleck nodded to me and began his lecture. "Welcome new students! In this class we will be learning more about the history of this world, and, more importantly, the history of recent events. It is my job to make sure you all have an ingrained knowledge of this world's rich and full story, as you would not want to repeat the many mistakes of the past, yes?"

If he expected even a chuckle at that halfhearted attempt at a joke, he fell short by a couple miles. Nary a cough could be heard from the gallery, and I took no small amount of pleasure at seeing the leprechaun shift under the pressure, he turned back to the board and began with the earliest discoveries of human civilization, I largely tuned him out at this point. I had seen more than enough history to last several hundred lifetimes, and I wasn't keen on reliving any fond memories of the past either.

The class droned on, most of the tension between the two species giving way to an all-encompassing boredom as the man's lecturing pace got exponentially faster until no one bothered to try and keep up. Idly, I caught Dove's eye which had previously been boring into the wood, and gave him a small nod which he returned with a bored gaze. I felt a small hand tap my shoulder, I turned and saw Ruby slumped over on her desk staring back at me.

"Jaune, this is booooring." she whined, burying her face into her sleeve.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, leaning back and giving a hard look to the stocky guy from earlier as he huffed on me.

"I don't know, make it less boring?" I snorted at her logic.

"Just... try and pay attention." I told her, eyes drooping in a bored fatigue.

 _Doctor_ Oobleck just continued to drone on and on, I felt my head lean closer to the desk as the idea of just sleeping through class like 70% of the students got more and more desirable. Eventually, I propped my head up with my head and closed my eyes...

0-0-0-0

 _We had been going strong for the past week, cutting a trench into the enemy lines as we got closer to the city of El Dorado. A golden city by legend, inhabited with many of the monster nobles. If we could take it and the nobles, we'd have a slew of hostages to lord over the monsters until they finally relented. I walked with my squad, the rest of us trudging through muck and leaves._

 _"Hold on," I stopped, pushing two fingers into my temple._

 _The rest of the men were quiet, tense with anticipation. I let my magic flow through me, my will shaping it into something else as I could feel a small ping of energy radiate from around me. It crawled over the many leaves and bushes, across the rocks and small animals, I could sense my comrades, the forest around us, and..._

 _The dozen or so enemies that had surrounded us._

 _"Ambush!" I screech, raising my gun to the flora beside me._

 _It was like a flip switched, the sounds of animalistic roaring echoed back to us as the nightmares around us pressed their assault. Behind me, the leaves burst to reveal a werewolf, fangs bared and aimed at Whalter. He didn't hesitate, firing a fire dust round into the beast's chest and causing the unfortunate creature to howl in agony and hit the ground._

 _I continued firing, cutting down one or two more unidentified creatures as the roaring got louder. Through the blood and gunfire, I could hear one of the comms officers radio in for backup. I didn't hear the reply as I was sidelined hard enough to knock the wind out of me, there was no grace in the ensuing struggle, no action-packed fight to the death. I rolled over the creature, pounding a fist into his nose, whatever it was howled and screamed at me as it drove a set of claws into my stomach._

 _Black spots danced at my vision, the creature flipped itself back over and raised a claw at my head. It cracked a feral grin as it looked down on me, poised to strike as it-_

I screamed as a hand clamped down on my shoulder, instinctively my hand lashed out and caught the person in the face. Ruby's head snapped back into the raised desk behind her. I could hear a few gasps as Ruby cupped her face with her hand. I took me a moment to get my bearings, it had been a dream? Nothing more? Instantly I moved over beside Ruby and tried to look at the wound.

"Fuck Ruby, I'm sorry!" I apologized, reaching into my bag and taking out some pocket tissues.

She shook her head and croaked out an "It's ok."

Mercifully the bell rang, and my fight-or-flight reflexes triggered. I chose the latter and rushed out of the classroom, leaving behind a stunned crowd of students. I didn't care, I bolted down the hallway and out onto the courtyard. Not stopping until I ducked behind a large oak tree and slumped onto the grass. I sat there for a moment, trying to catch my breath and quell the ringing in my ears.

It had all been a dream, nothing more I told myself. The war was over, I was ok. I felt, rather than saw, a person coming up to me, they stopped just short and probably drank in my anxious appearance as I tried to wrangle my breathing under control. Adam took a seat down next to me, a hand gently placing itself on my shoulder as he leaned in.

"Hey Jaune," he said slowly. "You feeling alright man?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm good. Fell asleep in class and had a bad dream is all." I tried to muster up a weak laugh, but it came out more like a wheeze.

"I think maybe you should head back to your room for the rest of the day man. You're not looking so hot." Adam consoled, patting me on the back. "Need me to walk you back?"

"Nah, I don't want to take anymore of your time."

"Jaune, I've seen enough people with that look to know you need someone right now. Believe me." he spoke the words with genuine concern, I eventually relented as I got up.

We walked back to my dorm room, I saw Ren on the way there, hanging out with some of his friends. He shot me a curious look, but it was then Adam blocked him with himself, placing his body between me and my roommate. When we got back, Adam patted me on the shoulder and smiled a comforting smile.

"Take a rest man, no one's gonna blame you for having a flashback."

"A flashback?"

"No one gets out of war unscathed, mentally or physically. Maybe you should put in some time with the school therapist, she may be able to help." Adam told me, and I was more than willing to hear him out.

"Sorry to make you come all this way for me." I apologized, hands awkwardly fidgeting in my pockets.

"Relax Jaune, I got a free hour." he tapped me lightly in the chest. "Humans got to look out for one another, yeah? How about we make a promise to always have eachother's backs?"

"Y-Yeah, you're right Adam!" I agreed, Adam was probably the coolest guy I know and having him on my side would be awesome. "I promise."

"Same here amigo, now get some rest tonight dude. Try to feel better." I waved at him as he left, returning to my bed and idly wondering about how to call the school therapist...


End file.
